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[[Image:5.25 floppy.jpeg|thumb|right|5Â¼-inch floppy disk]]

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A '''floppy disk''' is a [[data storage device]] that is composed of a [[circle|circular]] piece of thin, flexible (i.e. "floppy") [[magnetic storage]] medium encased in a [[square (geometry)|square]] or [[rectangle|rectangular]] [[plastic]] wallet. Floppy disks are read and written by a '''floppy disk drive''' or '''FDD''', the latter initialism not to be confused with "fixed disk drive", which is an old [[IBM]] term for a [[hard disk|hard disk drive]].

A '''floppy disk''' is a [[data storage device]] that is composed of a [[circle|circular]] piece of thin, flexible (i.e. "floppy") [[magnetic storage]] medium encased in a [[square (geometry)|square]] or [[rectangle|rectangular]] [[plastic]] wallet. Floppy disks are read and written by a '''floppy disk drive''' or '''FDD''', the latter initialism not to be confused with "fixed disk drive", which is an old [[IBM]] term for a [[hard disk|hard disk drive]].

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== Background ==

== Background ==

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[[Image:5.25 floppy.jpeg|thumb|right|5Â¼-inch floppy disk]]

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Floppy disks, also known as '''floppies''' or '''diskettes''' (a name chosen in order to be similar to the word "cassette"), were ubiquitous in the [[1980s]] and [[1990s]], being used on [[home computer|home]] and [[personal computer]] ("PC") platforms such as the [[Apple II family|Apple II]], [[Apple Macintosh|Macintosh]], [[Commodore 64]], [[Amiga]], and [[IBM PC]] to distribute software, transfer data between computers, and create small [[backup]]s. Before the popularization of the hard drive for PCs, floppy disks were often used to store a computer's [[operating system|operating system (OS)]], [[software application|application software]], and other data. Many home computers had their primary OS [[kernel (computer science)|kernel]]s stored permanently in on-board [[read-only memory|ROM]] chips, but stored the [[disk operating system]] on a floppy, whether it be a proprietary system, [[CP/M]], or, later, [[DOS]].

Floppy disks, also known as '''floppies''' or '''diskettes''' (a name chosen in order to be similar to the word "cassette"), were ubiquitous in the [[1980s]] and [[1990s]], being used on [[home computer|home]] and [[personal computer]] ("PC") platforms such as the [[Apple II family|Apple II]], [[Apple Macintosh|Macintosh]], [[Commodore 64]], [[Amiga]], and [[IBM PC]] to distribute software, transfer data between computers, and create small [[backup]]s. Before the popularization of the hard drive for PCs, floppy disks were often used to store a computer's [[operating system|operating system (OS)]], [[software application|application software]], and other data. Many home computers had their primary OS [[kernel (computer science)|kernel]]s stored permanently in on-board [[read-only memory|ROM]] chips, but stored the [[disk operating system]] on a floppy, whether it be a proprietary system, [[CP/M]], or, later, [[DOS]].

floppy disk - Revision history

beta m at 18:34, 28 November 2005

beta m: almost entirely from Wikipedai:Floppy disk